Singing-Out in the Autumn and Beyond

Our public performances over this long hot summer concluded with a rather wet, but nonetheless enjoyable, finale when we sang for the good folks at the  Amberley Chalk Pits Museum during the "Taste of Sussex" event there on August 29th.  A big thank you to the Museum's staff and visitors for the space offered in the cafe to shelter us from the elements!

Now September has arrived, with its promise of mists and mellow fruitfulness, and our first public performance this month was at the Weald and Downland Living Museum on September 5th - on what felt like a glorious summer's day!   (See photos below of our sunny smiling faces, and another small face found nearby amongst the cobbles around the Market Square - perhaps surprised by our singing!)

Then, still in West Sussex, we'll be singing at the Fernhurst Furnace again on Saturday 12th, during their annual Heritage Days open weekend - and on Saturday September 26th you can hear us at the National Trusts' Clergy House in Alfriston in East Sussex for a return visit there.  

We look forward to visiting and singing in these interesting and lovely locations again, to support the ongoing work done there to preserve, protect and share the history and heritage of the South Downs - as we also try to do with our songs.  

After a quiet October, we'll be back at the Weald and Downland Museum on Saturday November 21st for their pre-Christmas Market (held over the weekend of Nov.21st/22nd.)  (More details are available on the Diary dates page of this Blog, and on the Museum's own website.)

And we'll be singing at the Fishbourne Roman Palace Museum again over the weekend of December 5th or 6th (day to be confirmed) with a mix of autumn into winter songs, and no doubt some festive ones too, in support of the seasonal event they have planned. 

Then we'll be back to Christ Church in Worthing on Tuesday December 8th for another lunchtime concert there - with more seasonal songs and maybe some musical interludes too.

There may yet be more events to sing at before the year turns - so keep an eye on our Diary Dates page for any extras, and for our plans as we move into 2027.

(Our songs can also be enjoyed at our regular Local Group sessions each month as usual - so if you'd like to join us just email first and come along!    Dates and times are on the Diary Dates pages - and details of their venues can be found on our Welcome or New Singers pages.) 

Here we are at the Weald and Downland Museum.....

Here's the spooky stone! .......

Worthing Local Group Report - Thursday September 3rd 2026

We welcomed two new faces to the circle of singers who gathered in the Barn for this September session - and we also had the pleasure of having Amaryllis, Alan and Tina with us too.  In and around our catch-ups and chats at the start and in the break, we managed to cover the 10 songs proposed or suggested by the group.  These included one or two in readiness for singing out at public events this month - but most were choices by request from those present.  

Amaryllis led the evening with support from others whenever helpful.  We opened with Alan's thoughtful song "Lammas Carol", followed by the late summer into autumn seasonal tale of "Tommie" - a lad scrumping apples, sung to the tune of 'Fathom the Bowl'.  The theme of trees and harvest s continued with 'The Oak Tree Song" and "Farmers Toast".  The "Smugglers Song" described an illicit harvest of a different kind, before we returned to the fields with the humorous song "Harvest Moan", sung to the tune of the hymn 'Plough the Fields and Scatter'.  It describes the struggle farmers have to achieve a worthwhile crop, fun to sing but a seriously difficult task these days with more extreme weather becoming the norm.  Amaryllis and Tina have plans to use this in their sets at the public events they will each soon lead - Amaryllis at the Weald and Downland Museum the following Saturday (Sept 5th) and Tina later in the month at the N.T. Clergy House in Alfriston (Sept. 26th).

After the mid-session break we resumed with "Home Lads Home" a Remembrance song and another evoking the autumn season. Then we tried the "The Jolly Woodcutter", first learned by some of us in the 'Belloc and Broadwood' Songs Project but unfamiliar to others.  We used just the first four verses, with advice from Alan to keep the pace bright; we hope to use this song more often in the future.  "Run of the Downs" was our penultimate song before we closed with a song for the cider-making season, celebrated in a new verse added to "The Worthing Grower" by its author Barbara S who also introduced it.  We enjoyed singing it, using the same tune as the 'Turmut Hoer' which had inspired it - and Alan suggested we add it to the set he is planning for our sing at the Fernhurst Furnace open day on September 12th.

Thanks to our leads and contributors to this session, and to everyone in this evening's singing circle - we hope to see you next time on October 1st - which will include our S.D.F.S. AGM.  

(Please note - we will start earlier, at 7.00pm, to accommodate the AGM - and our singing will begin at about 8.00pm)